Entrepreneurs are a unique group of people. Not only do they think differently; they act differently. They draw on personality traits, habits and mind-sets to come up with ideas that straddle the line between insanity and genius. But just because you’re an original thinker and came up with an idea to replace gasoline in cars doesn’t mean you’re cut out to be an entrepreneur.

If you ever wondered if you were an entrepreneur, check out the following list. You may not have all these traits or skills, yet if you have some, this is a pretty good indicator that you have what it takes.

You come from a family of individuals who just couldn’t work for someone else. Your parents worked for themselves. Though this isn’t true for every entrepreneur (myself included), many have a family history with one or both parents having been self-employed.

You hate the status quo. You’re a person who is always questioning why people do the things they do. You strive to make things better and are willing to take action on it.

You’re self-confident. Have you ever met an entrepreneur who was pessimistic or self-loathing? After all, if you don’t have confidence, how can others believe in you? Most entrepreneurs are very optimistic about everything around them.

You’re passionate. There will be times when you spend an excessive amount of time and do not make a dollar. It’s your passion that will keep you going.

You don’t take no for an answer. An entrepreneur never gives up — ever.

You have the ability to create unlikely partnerships from out of nowhere because of your ability to connect the dots. People tend to gravitate toward you because you are likable. Many times this is because of your passion.

You spend more time with your co-founder than your spouse or significant other.

You dropped out of college like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.

The daily commute to your office is from the bedroom to the living room.

You believe that there is more than one definition of job security: You realize that your job is safe as long as you are in control as opposed to relying on a boss who could ruin your career after one swift mistake.

You want to be in control and in command of your own company. You typically like overseeing most things that go on at your company.

You see opportunities everywhere. For example, you walk into a building and are curious about its worth or the companies inside.

You’re a logical thinker with ideas about how to correct problems and the overall situation.

Speaking of problem solving, have you checked to see if there’s an app for that? Perhaps you’ve already begun to create a business model and the software architecture to see if it’s feasible.

You’re a people person. You have no problem communicating with people.

You’ve done the market research. You know that just because you have an incredible idea doesn’t mean that it’s profitable. But you’ve already looked into whether customers will make the purchase.

You surround yourself with quality people — not leeches who will bring you down.

You’re a bit out there. Having the ability to create something out of nothing takes a mad-genius type of person. Remember, people thought Albert Einstein was insane before he proved the theory of relativity.

Even if you don’t have all the above traits right now, you’ll probably develop more of them over time. After all, being an entrepreneur is a lifestyle, not a job or hobby.

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ABOUT ADGE Africa

Adge Africa is an African Business Incubation organisation specializing in accelerating the growth and increasing the success rate of start-up and early stage Small and Medium Enterprises.

The Adge Africa Business incubator programme helps develop and support current and new entrepreneurs to start-up businesses and equip them for survival, longevity and growth as sustainable businesses....